Morgan Graver
Morgan Graver is an antagonist character within the world of Coryphiel. He is a prominent, and tyrannical, member of the Tower of Erradan. His full title is "Mortex Dominus", a unique title that he created for his unique position. Graver is a mage of forbidden magic who likes to utilise ancient relics, which he has adapted and harnessed. He is known as an explorer, a military commander, and a scholar of occult magic. Physical Description Graver has pale skin, almost unnaturally so, giving him a gaunt pallor. His hair is black, and cut sensibly short. Graver naturally has blue eyes, however his left eye is pure white. Graver suffered an injury to his throat in his past, forcing him to wear a special breathing apparatus which covers his neck and mouth. Under this, his throat and mouth are severely damaged. Graver is tall and thin. His past life as a soldier gave him a respectable musculature, but his injuries have weakened him somewhat. Outfit Graver wears a black overcoat with the symbol of the Tower on a badge over his heart. He also wears thick black gloves and boots. His mouth and neck are covered by his breathing apparatus, which is made of black metal and has several pipes coming out of it. He often wears a rapier at his side. Though this is mostly for intimidation value, he is not averse to using it as a weapon. Personality Morgan Graver an ambitious sociopath. His colleagues have described him as reclusive and anti-social, and cold in the few occasions he does have to be social. He lacks the manners and etiquette usually associated with the upper class, and seems to be uncaring of other peoples opinions. Nevertheless he is incredibly resolute and determined, both for his own gain and the sake of the Erdannian Empire. He will do anything to gain power, and uses that power to further the motives of the Tower and the Empire. Graver is not arrogant, and respects other peoples skills. He appreciates the value of everyone he works with, and is willing to learn from them. This does not, however, prevent him from killing, manipulating, or experimenting on anybody he wishes to. Graver is obsessed with the occult and the relics of ancient civilisations, believing them to have been far more advanced than current magic users. He wishes to harness their power, but doesn't want to be corrupted by it, and so uses modern magic and technology to adapt ancient dark artifacts. Background the Graver family come from a midde-upper class background, very prominent within the village of Dunfinch. They are wealthy, but not nearly as much as any of the major families or businesses of Erradan, so they could not prevent their eldest son, Morgan, being conscripted into the army when the recruiters passed through Dunfinch. Morgan Graver was an unremarkable youth, and grew into the role of soldier aptly. At that age, he was as sociable as anyone else, though he did show the signs of the ambition that would mark his career. While stationed in Tyrrus, Morgan's captain was approached by Magos Castorex Teagan Mortlock, a prominent battle-mage of the Tower. The Castorex was recruiting for the Tower Legatos, the soldiers who the Tower teaches magical abilities to. Morgan eagerly signed up. Like most things that happen within the deepest parts of the Tower, the exact training that Morgan underwent within the Tower is unknown. What is known is that a few months later he and a number of other soldiers emerged with some mysterious psychic powers. Like most of the Legatos Soldiers, this squadron had been given the ability to co-operate in the casting of magic, however unlike most, they had been gifted with talents normally forbidden to mages of Erdannia. However, the training and experimentation had taken its toll on Morgan, he became taciturn and antisocial, yet more ambitious than ever. Castorex Mortlock took his new soldiers to fight a hidden war. His friends in the Cabal had been investigating a secretive society that lived beneath Tyrrus, the mysterious Depthers. A group of them had created a warcamp close to the surface in the Westwood. Mortlock and his soldiers, including Graver, delved into the caves and attacked the Depther camp. Unfortunately the mysterious cave dwellers had been expecting them, and a sharpshooter took out the Castorex. Graver quickly and efficiently took command, and managed to force the Depthers to retreat. He then used the telekinetic powers of the soldiers to cause the cave to collapse behind the retreating Depthers, forever cutting them off from this position. Looting the warcamp, Graver uncovered a mysterious black orb, and a number of other occult artifacts. However, when leaving he was attacked by a Depther wearing metal claws on his hands, who savagely mauled Graver, especially his throat and face. His fellow soldiers killed the attacker, and a medic treated the soldier, though the attack had caused horrendous wounds that couldn't be properly treated in a cave by a battlefield medic. The soldiers took Graver to Varawyn, and he was immediately taken to a Steiner Institute hospital. However, his wounds had become infected during the journey and were deemed un-salvageable, even with the advanced medicine and magic of the doctors. However, a mysterious man named Saint came forth, claiming he knew augmenters who could fabricate a breathing apparatus for the wounded soldier. Saint came through on his promise, and Graver survived, although he would never fully recover from the crippling injury. Saint later revealed himself to Graver to be a member of the Cabal. Upon returning to Erradan, he reported the death of the Castorex. Since Graver and the other soldiers were Mortlock's secret project, officially there were no records of the soldiers, and they were disbanded, and given some money to support their re-integration into society. Instead of returning to Dunfinch, Morgan Graver remained in Erradan and spent most of his time studying the strange orb he had discovered. It wasn't long before he manage to achieve a bond with it, and used the magic he learned in the Tower to unlock its secrets. His bond with the orb caused one of his eyes to turn completely white. He began referring to it as the Orb of Night, and began practicing its capabilities to store souls and perform feats of powerful death magic. The Tower heard of Graver's sinister experiments, and dispatched some agents to bring him in. Graver calmly allowed himself to be brought to the tower, where he was given a choice; he could either become a member of the Tower and allow the mages to study him and the orb, or he could be imprisoned for practicing forbidden magic, and be studied anyway. Graver chose the obvious option. Though his time as a member of the Tower began with him simply being an experiment and object of study, he managed to convince many of the mages to teach him. He quickly achieved the title of Magos, and from there kept rising. As his power grew so did his capacity to manipulate, intimidate, and outright bully his colleagues and superiors. Through such tactics he was soon granted the rank of Magos Castorex, allowing him to lead a squadron of soldiers. In the years following this, Castorex Graver was hardly in Erradan. He spent a lot of time on expeditions, especially into places where ancient and occult magic could be found. Every time he came back to Erradan, he would bring back and assortment of occult esoterica, from places such as Ancient Izir, the Savage Isles, and even Hirokir. He used modern enchanting techniques in an attempt to harness the power of these artifacts safely. Mortlock's old allies in the Cabal made contact with Graver, hoping to establish him as an ally. They offered him information about the Depthers and known cave systems that they inhabit. He readily accepted. This was only the beginning of many years of information exchanges. Graver's Cabal Contacts told him of others within the Tower who practiced forbidden magic. He spoke to them and obtained their allegiance. Using his various allies, and his growing psychic powers, Graver was able to force the Tower to create a new title, that of Mortex Dominus. As Mortex Dominus, Graver would be the authority on forbidden magic within the Tower. As part of this, all occult and esoteric artifacts recovered by the Tower would go through him, and he would have permission to perform any manner of experiments, without ethical or legal obstructions. Several years ago, Graver set out on an expedition to the Dark Isles. Barely any of his soldiers survived the expedition, but he brought back many occult artifacts of the N'Shari and the other forsaken dwellers of those isles, and set out to harness their power. Skills and Abilities Mortex Dominus Morgan Graver is a powerful member of the Tower. He is a mage who primarily uses forbidden magic, particularly the Death and Psychic varieties. He is one of the most powerful magic users within Erdannia, and would even be powerful by New Haven standards, though this is partially due to the artifact that he wields, the Orb of Night. As a dedicated explorer, he is not a stranger to dangerous situations, and can hold his own in combat against powerful foes. Physical Capability Graver was a capable, if unremarkable, soldier in the military. Certainly he was more physically capable than most mages would be. Since suffering his debilitating injury his physical vitality and strength have been lessened, though he is still quick and possesses a marksman's prowess with a gun. Sometimes, mostly for the benefit of his subordinates, he will demonstrate this in combat, though mostly he relies on his magical capabilities. Psychic Magic The Castorex Mortlock ruthlessly trained Graver in the usage of psychic magic, and he has expanded that knowledge with the resources of the Tower over many years. He has practiced it against a variety of foes during his expeditions. This has caused him to become a fearsome wielder of psychic magic. He is known to use telepathy to communicate with his soldiers, and uses powerful Telekinesis to make up for his lack of physical strength. He has various other psychic abilities, most prominently the capacity to delude and weaken the mind of others. Exerting his psychic will over an opponent he is able to temporarily induce fear and madness. He is also known to be able to make somebody dull-witted and idiotic, and remove a person's mental inhibitors, making them talk uncontrollably. The Orb of Night The Orb of Night is Graver's most iconic artifact, and is one that he has formed a natural bond with. Made from a transparent material that reveals the blue and black energy that swirls within, is an artifact of powerful Death magic, and seems to be able to absorb the souls of those who die near it. Its most powerful capability, one that has saved Graver's life multiple times, is its capacity to use these souls to restore life to its wielder when they would normally die. It can also be used to drain the soul of the living, harming them and restoring life to its wielder. Finally, the orb serves as a spellcasting focus much like a staff, enhancing Graver's spells. In Graver's hands this orb is a fearsome weapon, and he is not above letting his soldiers die in order to fill the Orb with souls. Enchanting The Mortex Dominus is a talented enchanter. He learned this talent from inscriptions in ancient ruins, and from the artifacts he looted from the Depthers originally, and bolstered it with the knowledge contained at the Tower. Though the Orb of Night is powerful, Graver considers bonding with it to be a mistake as it has permanently altered his physicality, and it could have done much worse if it were a more malicious artifact. Therefore he uses modern magic and technology to adapt ancient occult artifacts so they can be used without bonding to them. This usually reduces their power, but provides the Tower with safe magical weapons with unusual capabilities.